


On Incubation: Long Term Effects and Methods of Recovery

by IluisIndustries



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 18:17:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9135754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IluisIndustries/pseuds/IluisIndustries
Summary: Prompto and Gladio are on watch duty around Hammerhead a year after the events at Zegnautus, Prompto helps make sense of his depressed moods during their journey and Gladio gives him reassurance for the future.major spoilers for Prompto’s backstory and events of Chapter 13.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~ First (kinda tiny) fic on AO3!
> 
> Hopefully DLC will help provide some of the closure that was sorely missing from the game's later chapters, but in the meantime, there's always fic!
> 
> All characters, locations, etc. owned by Square Enix.

Gladio returned to the Leville, throwing a dime in the nearby fountain for luck. He waved to the staff member at the counter, then took the stairs two at a time, turning down the hall and into their dark hotel room.

Light from the hall fell on the edge of the bed, illuminating Prompto, who was sitting on the corner. He didn’t flinch at the sudden light, or even seem to register that anything had changed.

“Heya, the others are still out, picking up some supplies,” Gladio said. Still Prompto didn’t move. Was he… sleeping while sitting? “You ok buddy?”

Gladio hadn’t known Prompto at all before their trip, he only really remembered the prince had mentioned having a friend. But the blonde teen was an invaluable addition to their crew, always kept them grounded with humor. That was probably what was so unsettling; Prompto had always been the excitable joker, and he now sat as still as if he were dead.

“Nothing on TV?” Gladio asked, kicking off his boots and sitting on the other bed.

“Broken,” Prompto breathed. He stirred a little, but didn’t look up. “Didn’t even get static.”

“Ah, shoulda called the front desk. You had your phone though, shoulda played some King’s Knight,” he offered.

“Had to charge it, ran out of battery on the way over.”

“Gotcha.” They sat in silence for a while, but Gladio couldn’t relax with Prompto looking this utterly defeated. “You ok?” he asked again. There was more silence for a short while so he said, “Actually don’t answer that, you’re definitely not ok. What’s wrong?”

Prompto’s face got a little scrunched up and his hands tightened into fists as if he was fighting something back. Gladio started, “Is it… it’s not the TV being broken right? Cause I can take a look-”

“It’s not that! It’s just-” Prompto started crying but willed himself still, “I just get this way sometimes, when I’m on my own.”

Gladio stood and moved behind him, sitting nearby on the bed. “How long’s it been like that?”

“As long as I can remember. What does that matter?”

“You’re right, that was probably just nosiness. Is there any way I can help you?”

Prompto seemed to think for a second, then said, “You’re sorta doing it, just being here is good.”

Good, thought Gladio, and he proceeded to do just that, talking about mundane shit until his companion shook off his funk and started cracking jokes like he usually did. Ignis and Noct rejoined them after a while. “About time,” Gladio greeted them.

“Ya,” Noct laughed, elbowing Ignis lightly “/Someone/ got into a bit of an argument haggling over the price of curry.”

“That first vendor we stopped at was a swindler and you know it!” Ignis said indignantly.

“Shoulda said, ‘Hey could we curry this up, we got places to be!’” Prompto said, stepping off the bed to give Noct a playful jab. Noct groaned at the pun but laughed anyways.

– 

“You remember that night, right?” Prompto asked. He and Gladio sat on a rock just outside of Hammerhead, still within range of the lights. It had been about a year without daylight. 

“Ya, and all the other nights too,” Gladio replied. They would try not to leave Prompto alone for too long, but generally when they did they would return to find him looking like he had run out of battery. 

“Well,” Prompto said, raising his right wrist to show the codeprint he had had since birth, “Now you know why.” Gladio turned and leaned towards him, body language opening to let him continue. “Back before I can remember, I was in a dark, silent incubator, just like we saw in Zegnautus.” 

“When I was rescued and brought to Insomnia, I spent most of my days the same way, I would sit alone at the orphanage and eat when they brought me food. When I aged out of the system and went into public housing projects, I couldn’t take it anymore and had to keep the tv and lights on constantly just to break me out of that funk.” 

“So, now, anytime I’m in the dark and the quiet, I find myself right back there, like I’m resuming my incubation and getting ready to become a daemon-hosting MT.” He ended on that chilling note and looked down at his feet which he tapped together arrhythmically. 

“Then I take it a year without sunlight and sparse electricity was… not easy,” Gladio stated the obvious. Prompto gave an empty laugh and shook his head no. 

“I feel like, the next time it happens, I might… actually…” 

“We won’t let you turn,” Gladio said, reaching over to grab his shoulder. “Iggy and me, and Iris and Talcott and, hell anyone we know. If you go missing we’re not gonna just leave you out there to become a monster.” 

“It might not be up to you,” Prompto turned to face him then, eyes showing a growing panic, “I mean I didn’t exactly study the incubators there while we were fleeing for our lives, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t just feeding me. I think they were infusing stuff into my blood. Photoplague stuff, whatever it is. And Sania said those organisms just grow and grow until they consume the host from the inside.” 

“But you’re still safe, even after all this time,” Gladio pointed out. 

“That’s probably just from being close to Noct and the Lucis magic,” said Prompto. 

“Ya? Even a year after he disappeared?” Prompto’s brow furrowed at this suggestion. “Maybe there’s more to it than we understand just yet. Maybe you were around him long enough you were cleansed of whatever they did? Maybe it’s not his magic, but his friendship that was preventing it from spreading and even now that he’s gone the memory still has the same effect? Or maybe-” Prompto rolled his eyes as if to say ‘alright already’ Gladio gave his arm a light jab and said, “maybe you’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Prompto seemed to puzzle over that for a while, chewing his lip as he thought. He looked up at Gladio after a while and nodded. Gladio’s phone buzzed, indicating a shift change. “Ah, 8 a.m. already? Good morning, I guess!” 

Prompto chuckled. “Oh ya, thanks for sharing this beautiful sunrise with me, buddy!” he said, waving an arm at the pitch black of perpetual night all around them. Gladio laughed at him, tussling his hair as they returned to the bunkhouse for rest.


End file.
